Peter Wehner has an essay that is worth reading over at Commentary.
Some thoughts on the task ahead for the GOP:
1. Right now the attention of the country is (understandably) riveted on Obama and the Democratic Congress. There’s not a great deal Republicans can, or even should, do about that. Democrats hold the reins of power; their fate is now largely in the hands of Democrats. If the Democrats succeed and the nation prospers, they will be hard to dislodge. If they fail and the country falters, they’ll pay a price. The philosophical significance of the Obama presidency depends on whether he governs successfully (as did FDR) or poorly (as did Carter). It’s premature for either side to pretend it knows whether or not Tuesday’s election is a hinge point in American politics.
There is quite a lot more, especially the point about following neither extreme position of saying Reaganism is dead or Needs to be reclaimed. He calls it reformist versus traditionalist. I think he’s right that there is a middle course here. We can remember and embrace our Reagan roots, if you will. But we can also forge a new, more timely message to merge with and carry forward with those traditions.
For me, Reagan was, above all, a pragmatist. He did not get all his agenda enacted, not even most of it.
But he got a lot. And he got his main one. His policies crushed the Soviet Union and ended the Cold War. He chose his battles wisely.
Can we do less and expect to get what he got?
Choose battles wisely, wait for the opening. Find solid ground to fight from, drive a solid message.
The left glories in our disarray. Do not give them the satisfaction.
That simple. That difficult.
Scott Rasmussen has an excellent take on the Obama victory that bears reading in full. I’ll excerpt a bit, then ask you go over to the link and read the rest.
Barack Obama won the White House by campaigning against an unpopular incumbent in a time of economic anxiety and lingering foreign policy concerns. He offered voters an upbeat message, praised the nation as a land of opportunity, promised tax cuts to just about everyone, and overcame doubts about his experience with a strong performance in the presidential debates.
Does this sound familiar? It should. Mr. Obama followed the approach that worked for Ronald Reagan. His victory confirmed that voters still embrace the guiding beliefs of the Reagan era.
During Reagan’s campaign, the nation suffered from high unemployment and high inflation. This time around, data from the Rasmussen Reports Daily Presidential Tracking Poll showed that Mr. Obama took command of the race during the 10 days following the collapse of Lehman Brothers — when the Wall Street meltdown hit Main Street. Before that event John McCain was leading nationally by three percentage points. Ten days later Mr. Obama was up by five and never relinquished his lead.
Mr. Obama’s tax-cutting message played a key role in this period of economic anxiety. Tax cuts are well-received at such times: 55% of voters believe they are good for the economy. Only 19% disagree and see them as bad policy.
This, as Rasmussen points out later in the piece, is Obama’s real problem. There is no way to reconcile an activist Congress with a hunger for higher taxes and more government spending with Obama’s campaign promises. No way. Add to that the almost certainly destructive economic and environmental policies Obama promised and you can begin to see what Obama faces. This is precisely why I have been trying to tell Republicans and conservatives to not self destruct, not tear into one another and to obey Reagan’s Eleventh Commandment.
Can we do better? Hell yes. Can we do better if we tear ourselves apart first?
No. We. Can. Not.
Dig in, folks. It’ll be a hell of a ride.
Politics | Gaius November 10, 2008 | 
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